Seahawks' Russell Wilson breaks quarterback mold

Sunday

Oct 14, 2012 at 6:00 AM

Like the president and late-night talk show hosts, NFL quarterbacks tend to be large in stature. The average size of the current 32 starting quarterbacks — that’s including the injured Matt Cassel and the incompetent Mark Sanchez — is 6-foot-3-1/2, 228 pounds.

By Rich Garven TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

Like the president and late-night talk show hosts, NFL quarterbacks tend to be large in stature.

The average size of the current 32 starting quarterbacks — that’s including the injured Matt Cassel and the incompetent Mark Sanchez — is 6-foot-3-1/2, 228 pounds.

“We don’t ignore anybody based on their talent and their production,” Belichick began.

However …

“We certainly recognize that there’s a height, weight, speed standard at every position in the league,” he added. “We’ve studied that, as I know every other team in the league has. Whatever position you want to take — whether it’s left tackle, right tackle, guard, quarterback, anything — you can look at all the players that play that position, all the players that start at that position in the league, take an average of those numbers, and you’re going to get a pretty good idea of what the consensus at that position is in terms of height, weight and speed. Then there are exceptions to that.”

At the moment, there are three when it comes to starting QBs. They would be Drew Brees of the Saints, Michael Vick of the Eagles and Russell Wilson of the Seahawks, whom the Patriots face today in Seattle.

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Wilson was tremendously productive at North Carolina State and Wisconsin, where he concluded his collegiate career by setting an NCAA Division 1 record for passing efficiency and tossing 33 touchdowns. Only Brees (hmmm), who passed for 39 at Purdue in 1998, has thrown more TDs in a single season in Big Ten history.

Wilson is so talented athletically that he was drafted in the fourth round by the Colorado Rockies in 2010 and spent two summers playing for their minor league affiliates before opting to go the football route full time.

But Wilson is listed at 5-11, which is a rounded-up height, and 206 pounds. So he lasted until the third round in the 2012 NFL Draft, the Seahawks finally taking him 75th overall. He was the sixth quarterback selected.

“He has every intangible you’d want,” said Trent Dilfer, a current ESPN analyst and former NFL quarterback, who stands 6-4, and predicted Wilson would have been a top-10 selection were he three inches taller.

“He has the brains for the position; he has the soul for the position. He’s got everything you want except he dramatically lacks what history tells us is a huge component to being successful, and that’s stature. That’s being a certain height-weight profile.

“You’ll hear a lot of different reasons why that’s important, but history has proven there are very few guys under 6-2 who have been very successful.”

That’s only half true.

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Very few guys under 6-2 have gotten a chance to play. According to the Wall Street Journal, Wilson is one of nine quarterbacks under 6 feet to throw a pass in the NFL since 1970.

As for the undersized QBs who have gotten a chance, there are quite a few who distinguished themselves quite nicely.

Starr, Unitas, Jurgensen, Dawson, Tarkenton and Tittle are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

However, there’s no denying height helps when it comes to playing quarterback. One of the chief reasons is it improves one’s ability to see the field in all manner of situations — in particular, when things break down in the backfield.

“I think that’s really the biggest issue,” Dilfer said. “With a clean pocket, you can see pretty clearly at any height because you have space between you and the people rushing you. Your offensive linemen’s backs are to you.

“As the pocket collapses, which happens on a lot of those big third-down plays and red-zone plays when they know you’re passing, you have to — stand tall is the stupidest term in the world — be able to stand strong. Stand strong in the pocket and still maintain your sight lines. And the shorter you are, the harder that is.”

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Wilson has more or less measured up thus far.

There are five rookie quarterbacks starting this season, and Wilson is first in wins with three in five games. (Andrew Luck of the Colts has two wins in one fewer game.)

Wilson has completed 63.2 percent of his passes, of which he has thrown a league-low 79. No one else is even below a hundred. He has five touchdowns and six interceptions, although at least one was on his receiver.

And unlike Robert Griffin III of the Redskins, Ryan Tannehill of the Dolphins, Brandon Weeden of the Browns, and Luck, Wilson has pressure on him to win now. The Seahawks are definite contenders for a division title and, if the offense is even modestly productive, are NFC championship material thanks to a first-rate defense and stellar special teams.

So Wilson has been asked to manage the offense — he’s the only starting quarterback without 20 completions in a game this season. That’s not as simple as it sounds.

“Some rookie quarterbacks, like Andrew Luck and Ryan Tannehill and RG3, they just kind of said, ‘Here’s the keys — go. You’re going to make mistakes. You’re going to screw up sometimes. You’re going to do more good than bad, and we’re good with that,’ ” Dilfer said.

“And other rookies, like Russell, it’s like, ‘Well, we love what you can do, but we really have to protect this thing. I’m a defensive-minded head coach. I’m kind of going to be careful here. We’re going to try to minimize your influence in the game. Basically, your job is to make the plays that are there and don’t be the reason we lose.’ And that’s a hard way to develop. He’s done a nice job with it.”

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The Seahawks signed Matt Flynn to a three-year, $19.5 million deal with $10 million guaranteed in March. The former Packer joined Tavaris Jackson, who started 15 games last year, in what was expected to be a competition among a pair of 6-2, 225-pound signal callers.

Then Wilson came along and won the starting job.

Although small in stature, Wilson — like most every pro athlete — scores big in the confidence department. He’s got his reasons, and they’re good ones.

“I’ve worked at my craft; I’ve worked at having a high, quick release, throwing the ball on time with rhythm and just delivering an accurate football,” he said. “In this game, as you look at the great quarterbacks, obviously the guys like Tom Brady, you look at it, and you’ve got to have great leadership, first of all. Then you’ve got to have great attention to detail and your competitive nature has to be relentless. I think that’s something that I bring to the table every single Sunday.”

It’s too soon to determine if Wilson has what it takes to be a successful starting quarterback in the NFL. But if doesn’t work out, it likely will be because he’s deficient when it comes to accuracy and decision making.